Termination of strikes only option

QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce says Fair Work Australia (FWA) would need to order a termination of industrial action from the airline's unions if they want to be certain about getting the fleet back in the air.

Emergency FWA hearings are being held at the request of the government after Qantas made the shock announcement on Saturday to immediately ground its domestic and international flights and lock out engineers, pilots and other employees, beginning on Monday night.

Mr Joyce says he is hoping the Fair Work panel will order a termination on Sunday.

This follows months of industrial action by three unions.

However, if they simply order a suspension, it might not be enough to get the flying kangaroo up and running again.